Ahmed Bin Sulayem

Ahmed Bin Sulayem is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC and has driven its growth from a start-up of 28 member companies in 2003 to the world’s leading free zone in 2022 with over 21,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 65,000 people.

Tasked with enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai, DMCC has introduced to the market a number of value-added products and services under Mr Bin Sulayem’s leadership. In 2022, DMCC was named the ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record eight consecutive years.

Mr Bin Sulayem oversaw the exponential growth of the DMCC Free Zone master development in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), a 200-hectare business and residential community in Dubai of over 100,000 people living and working in 87 towers. Mr Bin Sulayem also oversees the development of DMCC’s latest real estate project; the much-anticipated Uptown Dubai district.

Mr Bin Sulayem currently serves as the Chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

The Kimberley Process officially appointed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the first and only Arab country to Chair the Kimberley Process in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Mr Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2016.

HE Hend Al Otaiba

HE Hend Al Otaiba obtained her undergraduate degree in London, where she studied psychology. She later received a master's degree in marketing, management and communications from the Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi in 2011 and also holds a master's degree in security studies from the UAE National Defense College. She is also currently a board member of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.

From 2012 and 2017, HE Hend Al Otaiba was the Director of Strategic Communications at the state-run media organization Abu Dhabi Media. Her first appointment was in the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), where she worked in communications from 2008 to 2012. During her time at the TDIC she oversaw cultural programmes and also worked with the French on the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

In 2019, she was appointed as the first director of the strategic communications department at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. She also served as the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson. She joined the UAE's foreign ministry in April 2017 as an advisor to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of the UAE. HE Hend Al Otaiba was appointed as UAE’s ambassador to France in July 2021.

Milena Dimitrova

Milena is working for the CCI France UAE since 9 years and is the Deputy Director for the Dubai Office since 4 years. Amongst others, she has developed agreements and relationships between French and Emirati business and government entities and is responsible for the business consulting activities of the chamber. She also represents the chamber on institutional meetings   when needed. Previously of joining g CCI France UAE, Milena has occupied business development positions in France, South America and the UAE.

Marwan Saleh

Marwan Mohamed Saleh is the Director of Sales and Business Development, Free Zone at DMCC. He brings over 25 years of work experience in strategic planning, marketing and business development, driving international sales and realising business objectives.

Prior to joining DMCC, Mr. Saleh was the Head of Business Development and International Sales at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).

Mr. Saleh is well-known for his extensive work with Etisalat Afghanistan from 1996 to 2015. He began his career journey as a Government & Corporate Segment Manager. Demonstrating excellence and business acumen, he then climbed the corporate ladder to become Vice President for Etisalat Afghanistan between 2011-2014, before
assuming the role of the CEO at Etisalat Afghanistan.

Mr. Saleh completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). He also holds multiple certifications in leadership and organisational leadership from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School.

Sandrine El Khodry

Business Leader and international expert in ICT & digital transformation with more than 27 years in the technology and telecommunications field. She held several leading positions in multinational technology giants (General Manager WorldWide Verticals in British Telcom, Regional Head EMEA in EUnetworks to name a few).

Sandrine has a MSE (Master of Enterprise Strategy)  in Corporate Strategy from FEDE in Geneva – Switzerland and a PhD in International Business Administration on “ THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BUSINESS AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION” (Currently ongoing in GENEVA BUSINESS SCHOOL - Switzerland).

Sandrine is a member of the French government's advisory committee on Foreign Trade in the Middle East and Africa, a Certified European board member of directors of international companies - ESSEC France and the Vice President Middle East, Egypt and Africa for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.

Yann de Saint Vaulry

Yann has 25 years of experience in the creation and management of IT companies (IDS followed by Daxium), in the geographic information system IT sector, GPS software, and web and mobile content management software.

He initiated and managed activities in France and internationally (United States, Asia, Europe & Dubai). In 2005, he founded Daxium, publisher of a no-code web/mobile platform to optimize the performance of remote employees. Daxium joined the Visiativ group in July 2022 and is now used in nearly 60 countries and 3 agencies including Dubai for export, which is managed by Tom Crépin, Associate Director since 2019.

Nizar Fadhlaoui

Born in Lyon, France, Nizar Fadhlaoui is a bi-national of France and Tunisia. He is admitted to practice Law in the State of New York, USA and has been reading in France, the UK and the US where he gained his LLM in International Legal Studies.

Before joining Quantum Group as their Head of Legal in 2013, Nizar held different positions in the UK as Director of Legal Affairs, in the Sultanate of Oman as Senior Associate in a law firm, and, in Dubai as the Head of the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre.

His areas of expertise include corporate, commercial, IT and Energy laws. Nizar is also a specialist in alternative dispute resolution and litigation throughout the MENA Region. As such, he has been exposed to multiple jurisdictions such as France, the UK, the USA, KSA, Oman, Qatar and of course, the UAE.

Sanjeev Dutta

Sanjeev Dutta is the Executive Director of Commodities and Financial Services at DMCC. He oversees DMCC’s commodities vertical, and directs the development, implementation and regulation of the organisation’s financial products, platforms and services.

An expert on trade finance and commodity markets, Sanjeev is responsible for identifying new business opportunities for DMCC and nurturing existing commercial partnerships. He was instrumental in establishing the DMCC Tea Centre, DMCC Coffee Centre and the award-winning DMCC Tradeflow platform, and now tasked with enhancing the trade of agri and softs, precious metals and stones through Dubai.

Sanjeev is a senior member of DMCC’s executive leadership team and supports the general management, strategic direction and growth initiatives of the organisation. Sanjeev devised and implemented the organisation’s Code of Corporate Governance, and established its comprehensive risk management protocol.

Joining on its inception, Sanjeev has held a number of senior roles within DMCC and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DCGX). A distinguished speaker, Sanjeev regularly represents DMCC at international industry events and is an expert on trade, commodities and Islamic Finance.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Sanjeev has over two decades of multi-industry expertise in auditing, financial controls, consulting, risk management, corporate governance and general management with both PwC and KPMG.